your company already great?

More capta requred for Empower network

Whch of your products or servces s seng we today?
My saes sks and Empower Network
Whch of your products and servces are the most protabe?
My saes sks and Empower Network
Whch ones are dong poory?
Whch ones do you ose money on?
Drnkng too much achoho
Is your current busness stuaton, postve or negatve, n any area?
More capta requred
Temporary or part of a ong-term trend?
Longterm
How can you know for sure?
Acton
How can you nd out?
Re|on Empower Network wth BIM/Vck Strzheus+Lke Hobbs+Pro|ect AWOL
What shoud you then do?
Make $10,000 rst 30 days
Clarity Is the Key
Why has your busness been successfu n the past?
My study of busness
What have you done we n the past that has been responsbe for your
success to date?
My study of busness, marketng and saes.
What are the most mportant sks and competences that your company
possesses today?
My study of busness, marketng and saes.
What are the very best products and servces that you oher rght now?
My study of busness, marketng and saes.
Look at the peope around you. Who are your most vauabe peope?
AFH Shoppette and Unversty of Maryand BAH money
Who are no onger as vauabe as before?
Who represents a net oss or detrment to your busness?
Be prepared to ask and answer the bruta questons.
The Customer Is the King
Who are your best customers today?
Koreans, snge maes, and busness opportunty seekers
What and where are your best markets?
Asa and the nternet
What do your customers ke the most about what you do for them?
Make them happy
What do they compment the most of what you oher or do for them?
Make them happy, tak aot and very smart n busness and fe
What s your number one area of customer satsfacton?
Saes and presentaton
What do your customers ke the least about what you do?
When I'm angry or tred
What do they compan about the most?
Not havng what they want avaabe for purchase
What s t that you se that your customers and potenta customers prefer to
buy somewhere ese, rather than from you?
Identify Your Personal Strengths
Look at yoursef honesty. What are your own persona best sks, quates
and abtes?
Engsh, Studyng, strategc pannng, marketng and saes
What are the most mportant thngs that you do at work, and for your
company?
Day facty mprovement, strategc pannng, marketng and saes
What are the most vauabe contrbutons you make personay to your
busness?
Increase saes, customer servce, and customer retenton
Start Where You Are:
1. What s workng the very best n your busness today?
Saes and marketng
What parts of your busness make you the happest?
Marketng
2. Whats not workng n your busness?
Watng on capta
What causes you the most aggravaton and frustraton?
Watng on capta
3. What are your most mportant products and markets?
Me (saes/marketng/engsh sks), Empower Network n th US/South
Korean markets
What accounts for the argest porton of your revenues?
AFH and Empower Network
4. Who are your most mportant peope?
AFH and Empower Network
Who are the peope who account for most of your resuts?
AFH and Empower Network
5. What are your speca taents and sks?
What s t you do that accounts for most of your success?
6. What are the ma|or changes takng pace n your market?
What changes shoud you make to compensate for them?
7. What are your most treasured assumptons about your peope, customers,
markets,
products, servces and yoursef?
What f one of them wasnt true?
What woud you do then?
Imagine Starting Over
Zero-based thnkng requres that you appy ths "scraper" mentaty to every
part
of your busness. You do ths by askng ths key queston:
Is there anything that you are doing in your business that,
knowing what you now know, you wouldnt start up again today, if you
had it to do over?
Instead of struggng to determne how you mght modfy, change, x, revse,
mprove or ater some busness functon, you nstead ask,
"If I was not dong ths today, woud I start t up agan today, knowing what I
now know?
To start wth, s there any product or servce that you woud not brng to the
market, oher or se, f you had to do t over agan, startng today?
Snce 80% of your products and servces are probaby gong to be obsoete
wthn the next 5 years, there
may be products and servces you are oherng today that, because of
changed market
condtons, you woud not ntroduce agan today, f you had to do t over
agan, knowing
what you now know. These products or servces are prme canddates for
dscontnuaton
or dvestture.
Is there any person n your busness that you woud not hre, assgn, appont,
go
to work for, or become assocated wth f you had to do t over agan today?
Most of your probems n busness w come from attemptng to work wth or
around a dmcut person,
who knowng what you now know, you woudnt get nvoved wth agan
today.
Who does ths brng to mnd?
Is there any supper, banker or vendor that you are deang wth today that,
knowng what you now know, you woudnt get nvoved wth agan today, f
you had to
do t over?
Since many of your business relationshis !ill not !or" out over
time# you
must be reared to continually reevaluate them# esecially if they
are causing you any
roblems or frustrations$
Analy%e Your Customers
Is there any customer that you are seng to or servcng today that, knowng
what you now know, you woudnt take on agan as a customer?
Many companes are askng ths queston about ther dmcut customers and
decdng to et them go.
Sometmes, one of the smartest thngs you can do s to "re your customers."
Encourage
them to go and dea wth someone ese who woud be more approprate for
them.
Assess Your &usiness Oerations
Is there any expenditure n your busness that you woud not authorze agan
f
you had t to do over?
Is there any process, procedure or actvty that, knowng what you
now know, you woudnt start up agan, or get nto, f you were makng the
decson
today, knowng what you now know?
Is there any advertsng, marketng or seng methodoogy or expense that
knowng what you now know, you woudnt start up agan today, f you had to
do t
over?
Keep askng, "Whats workng?"
and "Whats not workng?"
Pay Attention To The Indicators
You can aways te when you are n a zero-based
thnkng stuaton because t
causes you contnuous stress, aggravaton,
frustraton, negatvty and unhappness. You
thnk about t contnuay. Often you brng t home at
nght and dscuss t at the famy
dnner tabe. Sometmes t w even keep you awake
at nght.
Whenever somethng s not workng, or not workng
out the way you expected,
or causng you stress, nanca osses, aggravaton,
or rrtaton, ask,
Knowing what I now know, would I get into this
again today if I had to do it over?
If the answer s "No!" then your next queston s
How do I get out and how fast?
The 'ecision Is Inevitable
Heres an mportant pont. If somethng s not workng, eventuay you w
have to
get out of t. You w have to et the person go, dscontnue the product or
servce,
emnate the actvty or expense, or change the method of operaton. It s
ony a matter of
tme. It s not gong to get better a by tsef. And every snge executve who
nay
decdes to get out of an unhappy stuaton says afterwards, "I shoud have
done ths a
ong tme ago!"
Aly This Aroach Continually
Practice %ero(based thin"ing as a )go for!ard* method for the rest
of your
business career$ Aly it to everything you do# to every art of your
business# every single
day$ Aly it to every roduct# service# rocess# rocedure and
erson and be sure that#
"no!ing !hat you no! "no!# you would get into it again
today if you had to do it over $
If not# get out# and as fast as you can$
'ra! A +ine ,nder the Past:
1. Imagne startng over agan n every part of your busness; s there
anythng you
are dong that, knowng what you now know, you woudnt start up agan
today?
2. Is there any person n your busness fe who, knowng what you now know,
you
woudnt hre, assgn, promote or otherwse get nvoved wth agan today,
knowng what
you now know?
3. Is there any product or servce that, knowng what you now know, you
woudnt
brng to the market agan today?
4. Is there any nvestment that you have made that, knowng what you now
know,
you woudnt make agan today?
5. Is there any busness actvty or process that you are usng that, knowng
what you
now know, you woudnt start up agan today?
6. Is there any customer or market that, knowng what you now know, you
woudnt
take on or get nto agan today, f you had t to do over?
7. Is there any career decson that you have made that, knowng what you
now
know, you woudnt make the same way f you had t to do over agan today?
Start With The &asics
The startng pont of busness anayss s for you to ask:
"What busness am I n?"
What busness are you reay n?
What busness are you reay, really n?"
I soon reazed I was n the "goal
achievement business" (Me TOO!
_ERG).
My busness was hepng peope to
acheve ther persona and busness
goas faster by provdng them wth
practca deas
that they coud use mmedatey to get
better resuts.
Ths nsght ed me from taks and
semnars nto audo and vdeo
recordng,
books, tranng programs and Internet
based e- earnng on a varety of
sub|ects, ncudng the deveopment
and presentaton of the Turbostrategy
Process.
The Customer As Centeriece
"Who s my customer?"
Who s the person who buys from you today? Descrbe your customer n
deta.
What s the age, ncome, educaton, poston, atttude, ocaton and nterest of
your dea customer?
Many companes are not exacty sure of the answer to ths queston. They
have at best an
uncear pcture of the psychoogca and demographc characterstcs of ther
customers.
Who will your customer be tomorrow, f current trends contnue?
Who should your customer be, f you want to be successfu n the markets of
tomorrow?
Who could your customer be f you were to change, mprove or upgrade your
product or servce
oherngs?
'etermine What You Sell
Your next queston s: "Why does my customer buy?"
What vaue, benet, resut or dherence does your customer seek or expect
to en|oy as a resut of dong busness
wth you?
Of a the varous benets that your products or servces oher your
customers,
what do your customers consder to be more mportant than anythng ese?
Do you know?
Your abty to dene and promote ths unque benet s the rea key to
compettve
advantage and market success. You next queston s:
"What do we do especay we?"
What do you do better than any of your compettors?
Where are you superor?
Customers ony buy from a partcuar company because they fee that, n
some way, that company ohers somethng
that s superor to that of any other oherng.
What s your area of exceence?
|ack Wech of Genera Eectrc was famous for sayng, "If you dont have
compettve advantage, dont compete." Hs phosophy was that Genera
Eectrc woud
be number one or number two n every market segment n whch they
competed, or they
woud get out of that market.
Are you number one or number two n your market?
Can you be?
What s your pan to acheve ths market poston?
'e-ne Your Cometitor
The next queston, whch we w dea wth extensvey n Chapter 10, s:
"Who s your competton?"
Once you have dented your competton, you must ask,
"Why does your potenta customer buy from your competton, rather than
from you?"
What vaue or benet does he perceve that he receves from someone ese
that he does not fee he
receves from you?
How coud you ohset ths percepton?
Set Clear .oals
In performng an examnaton of your busness, you must ask contnuay,
"What are my goas?"
What are you tryng to accompsh?
If you are cear about your goas, what s hodng you back from achevng
them?
You need cear, wrtten, measurabe, tme-bounded goas for every part of
your
busness and persona fe. You need short-term, medum-term and ong-term
goas. Each
goa must be n wrtng, wth pans for ts accompshment. You cant ht a
target that you
cant see. Anayze everythng you do n the course of a day or a week.
What are the 20% of your actvtes that coud account for 80% or more of
your resuts?
Sometmes, |ust 10% of your actvtes, f you were to pursue them
aggressvey, coud account for 90% of your
resuts.
What mght they be?
&ecome Action(Oriented
What actions shoud you take mmedatey n response to the answers to
these
questons?
What s the very rst thng you shoud do rght now to ncrease your saes
and
mprove your market poston?
Another good queston you shoud ask yoursef s:
"Why am I n busness at a?"
Why do you exst?
What soca purpose does your company serve?
What oss woud occur to socety f you ceased to do busness atogether?
Imagne that you had to go n front of a government trbuna each year to
|ustfy
your contnued exstence.
What woud you say to the trbuna n terms of how you serve, hep, or make
a
dherence n the ves or work of your customers to |ustfy stayng n
busness?
These are key questons that you need to ask and answer for your busness
on a
reguar bass. You shoud ask and answer these questons for yourself, as
we. If you are
uncear or naccurate n your answers to any of them, the heath of your
enterprse coud
be n |eopardy.
Conduct A &asic &usiness Analysis:
1. What are your goas for your busness?
What are you tryng to accompsh?
2. Who s your dea customer?
Descrbe hm or her accuratey.
3. Why does your customer buy from you?
What speca benets or advantages do you oher that your compettors
dont have?
4. What busness are you reay n?
Descrbe your busness n terms of what you do for your customer, what
resuts you get.
5. What are the 20% of your actvtes that coud account for 80% of your
resuts?
6. What s your compettve advantage, your "area of exceence?"
In what ways are you superor to 90% or more of your compettors?
7. What specc, measurabe actons shoud you take mmedatey n answer
to the above questons?
Chater /our 0 'ecide 12actly What You Want
he world has the habit of making way for the man whose words and actions
show that
he knows where he is going! (Napoeon H)
Turbostrategy begns wth your decdng exacty what you want to accompsh
n
the key areas of your busness fe. Once you know your goas n each area,
you can then
decde upon the best steps you can take to get there.
The .OSPA 3odel
You can use the GOSPA Mode as a gude for strategc pannng. These ve
key
thnkng toos form the bass for successfu busness operatons.
&egin With The 1nd In 3ind
The rst etter, "G" stands for .oals. These are the utmate resuts that you
want
to acheve. Your goas are the end targets that you am at throughout your
busness year
or pannng perod. Your goas are your saes, prots, growth rate, market
share, or
percentage of return on assets, equty, nvestment or saes. Goas are aways
measurabe.
What are yours?
Stes on the Staircase
The second etter, "O" stands for Ob4ectives. These are the steps you w
have to
take to acheve your goas. They are ke the rungs on the adder to get to the
top.
Your busness ob|ectves can be specc rates of return from advertsng,
eves of saes of
certan products and servces, number of tems shpped and bed, mones
coected and
cost eves for certan actvtes. A ower defect rate or a hgher sae amount
per customer
can be ob|ectves on the path to achevng the man corporate goas. What
are your
nterm ob|ectves?
5o! to .et There
The etter "S" stands for Strategies. These are the dherent approaches that
you
can take to acheve your ob|ectves and reach your goas. For exampe,
achevng a
specc eve of protabty w requre producng and seng specc
quanttes of
products or servces to a specc market n a specc way. There are many
dherent ways
to go about accompshng these ob|ectves. The way you choose s your
strategy, and
may determne the success or faure of your enterprse.
Do you produce, market, se, dever yoursef, or do you outsource some part
of
the process? Do you se drect, va reta, drect ma, cataog or Internet? Do
you charge
more, charge ess, up-se, cross-se or dscount? Do you enter certan
markets and
abandon others? What s your strategy? Is t workng?
Planning /or Success
The etter "P" stands for Plans. These are your bueprnts for achevng your
goas. Your pans are composed of step-by-step sts of exacty what you w
do, day by
day, to get from wherever you are to wherever you want to go. Pans are
aways broken
down by sequence and prorty.
Some thngs have to be done before others can be done. Some thngs are
more important
than others n achevng the goa or ob|ectve. When your pan s organzed by
sequence
and prorty, you can accompsh much more n ess tme.
Busness fe conssts amost entrey of pro|ects, one after the other. A pro|ect
can
be dened as a multi"task #ob, a |ob made up of many sma |obs, each of
whch has to be
done propery to compete the arger task. Your abty to pan, organze and
compete
mut-task |obs, ever arger and more compex, s the most mportant snge
eement of
your success, n any ed.
'evelo a &ias for Action
The ast etter n the GOSPA process, "A", stands for Actions. These are the
specc tasks
that you are gong to compete to carry out the plans to mpement the
strategies to
accompsh the ob#ectives to acheve your goals.
Every mportant task must be cear, measurabe and tme bounded. It must
be assgned to
a specc person who s quaed to perform the task correcty, on tme and
on budget.
$hat gets measured gets done!
/ocus on Pro-tability
The centra purpose of Turbostrategy s to boost your cash ow and prots,
and
to ncrease your return on the money nvested n your busness. The am of
strategy s to
generate a hgher eve of cash ow and protabty than you woud reaze
wthout the
strategy, or wth your prevous strategy. In short, t s to make more money
than you are
makng rght now from the way that you are dong busness today.
The essenta resources of peope, money and taent that you need to
succeed n
your busness are aways mted. They must be focused and concentrated for
maxmum
resuts. Ths s what a good strategy enabes you to do.
/our Ways to Imrove Your &usiness
Settng strategy requres makng hard decsons n four areas: Frst, you must
decde what you are gong to do more of.
Whats workng?
What s seng we?
What products, servces and actvtes are the most protabe?
Second, you must decde what you are gong to do less of.
Whats not workng?
What contrbutes very tte to growth and protabty?
What shoud you dscontnue or emnate based on the reates of todays
market and todays customers?
What can you do to reduce costs n areas where they contrbute very tte to
resuts?
Thrd, what are you gong to start doing that youre not dong today?
What new products, servces or actvtes shoud you ntroduce f you want to
ncrease your saes and
protabty, or mprove and streamne your actvtes?
Fnay, what are you gong to stop doing atogether?
Remember, the crtca resources of tme and money are aways scarce. The
ony way you can mprove resuts s
by dscontnung certan actvtes atogether. You can then channe those
resources nto
areas where they yed hgher eves of busness resuts.
Clarity s the key to strategc success. The more tme you take to be
absoutey
cear about who you are, and what you want to accompsh, the more
successfu and
protabe you w be.
'ecide 12actly What You Want:
1. What are your specc, measurabe ong-term goals for saes and
protabty n
your busness?
2. What are the specc ob#ectives of saes, stamng, producton, devery and
customer deveopment that you w have to acheve to accompsh your
goas?
3. What are the varous ways that you can meet your ob|ectves and acheve
your
goas?
What s the best strategy for you n todays market?
4. What shoud you do more of and reay focus on to ncrease your saes and
protabty?
5. What shoud you do less of, based on your current experence?
Whats not workng?
6. What shoud you start doing that you are not dong today?
What opportuntes are avaabe to you?
7. What shoud you dscontnue, and stop doing altogether, so that you can
free up
resources for more protabe actvtes?
Chater /ive 0 'esign Your Ideal /uture
$e have been endowed with the capacity and the power to create desirable
pictures within
and to %nd them automatically printed in the outer world of our
environment! (|ohn
McDonad)
Some tme ago, I conducted a strategc pannng sesson for the senor
executves
of a $172 bon doar company. The organzaton was gong through a perod
of
consderabe turbuence, change, competton and new government
reguaton. There had
been ay-ohs, rngs, downszng and dvestments. My cents were the top
executves
who had survved the recent turmo, and the bood ettng was not yet over.
In these
crcumstances, they were both worred about the future and dstracted n the
present.
Create A /ive Year /antasy
To get them centered and focused, I began the strategy sesson wth a
process that
I ca )Ideali%ation$* In ths process, whch you can use yoursef, I had the
members of
the top team create a "ve year fantasy."
"Let us put asde the current stuaton for the moment," I suggested.
"Instead, te
me what ths company woud ook ke ve years from now f t was perfect n
every
respect?"
Ths exercse forced them to take ther attenton away from the probems of
the
present and focus ther thnkng on the possbtes of the future.
As we went around the room, each person contrbuted an dea about what
the
company woud ook ke f t were perfect. I wrote each dea on a p chart
and taped
the pages onto the was where everyone coud see them. In ess than haf an
hour, we
generated 27 dea descrptons.
We then voted on these deazed goas and organzed them by prorty. We
ended up
wth a seres of cear ob|ectves, ncudng "hghy protabe, tremendous
market
reputaton, hgh stock prce, top eadershp, fabuous customer servce, great
pace to
work, best management, rapd growth rate and top reputaton n the
ndustry," among
others.
Thin" In Terms Of Possibilities
I then asked them, "Are these goas possbe?" One by one, they agreed that
a of
these goas were possbe n ve years. They mght not be achevabe n one
or two years,
but n ve years, every one of them coud be accompshed wth w and
determnaton.
We came out of that sesson wth everyone revtazed and commtted to
workng
on achevng one or more of those ve-year fantasies. Over the next two
years, the
company competey reorganzed. They dd more of some thngs and ess of
others. They
started dong thngs that they had not done n the past, and they stopped
certan actvtes
atogether. They took compete contro of ther corporate destny and
changed t.
Peter Drucker once wrote, "We greaty overestmate what we can accompsh
n one
year; but we greaty underestmate what s possbe for us n ve years."
Thin" About The /uture
/uture(orientation s a key eement of strategc pannng and strategc
thnkng.
It s a ma|or responsbty of eadershp and top peope n every area. Ony
the eader can
thnk about the future. Ony the eader can pan for the future. There s no
one ese n the
organzaton who can do t, and f the eader does not thnk about and pan for
the future
as an ongong part of hs |ob, t w not be done. As they say n Aaska, "Ony
the ead
sed dog ever gets a dherent vew."
How often and how we the top peope n the company thnk about the future
argey
determnes the success or faure of the busness. "If you dont know where
youre gong,
any road w take you there."
The deveopment of the quaty of future-orentaton requres that you
contnuay
create an dea mage of your company some tme n the future. You ro4ect
for!ard in
your mind 6(7 years and imagine that your comany is erfect in
every resect$ You
decide e2actly ho! much you !ould be selling and earning at that
time$ You imagine
your ideal stoc" rice# your ideal reutation in the mar"et# your ideal
!or" situation and
your ideal human environment$
&ac" /rom The /uture Thin"ing
Once you have a cear pcture of your
dea future, you then return mentay
to
your current stuaton and thnk about
what you woud have to do, startng
today, to turn your future vson nto a
current reaty. Ths s caed, "back
from the future thnkng."
Make a st of a the thngs that woud
have to happen for you to reaze your
fantasy sometme n the future. It s
amazng how your perspectve
changes when you
ook back from the future, exacty as f
you were ookng back from the top of
the
mountan to yoursef down n the
vaey, and seeng the exact route you
w have to
foow to get to the top.
+eaders 5ave 8ision
In 3300 studes of eaders revewed by |ames MacPherson, searchng for the
common denomnators of eadershp throughout the ages, the one quaty
that a the
studes had n common was the quaty of vision. Leaders have vson; non-
eaders do
not.
To become a vsonary requres that you deveop the abty to magne,
dene,
artcuate, share and nspre other peope wth an exctng pcture of the
future. You get
everyone n your busness commtted to fung ths vson, and to workng
toward t
every day. Ths s the key to eadershp, and to budng a great company.
Arstote wrote, )We become !hat !e reeatedly
do$* You become a eader by thnkng
the way eaders thnk, both n your busness and n your persona fe. You
become a
eader by thnkng about the future, and how you can make t a present
reaty.
9o!# 3ore Than 1ver
But t s n tmes of rapd change, and turbuence n the market, that an
exctng
vson of the future becomes more mportant that ever before. A vson can
become the
force that bnds peope together nto a sod team. It can gve meanng and
purpose to
work, even when tmes are tough and pay ncreases are not possbe.
There are many ways you can approach the deveopment of a vson for your
organzaton. Perhas the very best vision for your comany includes
t!o "ey
comonents$ /irst# it is focused on your customers and on doing
something for them that
changes and imroves their lives or !or" in some !ay$ Second# it
contains a commitment
to excellence # to be the very best at doing !hat you do for your
customers$ These are the
"eys to vision$
Your vson s to "be the best!" at the most mportant thng that you do for
your
customers. Your vson s to serve your customers n such a way that you are
seen as
superor n a partcuar product, servce or actvty. Imagne that you coud be
known as
outstanding n any one thng that you do for your customers. What woud t
be? Your
answer can be the startng pont of a vson for your busness that changes
your future
competey.
Your Personal 8ision
You need a vson for yoursef as we. Pro|ect forward 5 years n your
magnaton. If your future were perfect n every way, what woud t ook ke?
If your
ncome, your poston n your company or ed, your famy fe, your heath,
your |ob
and every part of your fe were dea n every way, how woud t be dherent
from today?
Once you are cear about your vson, for yoursef and for your busness, the
ony queston you ask s,
&ow do I make it a reality?
Top peope thnk contnuay n terms of how? They thnk n terms of takng
acton, of what can be done.
Once you have cared your vson, and determned what you w have to do
to make t a reaty, you then do somethng every day to move you toward
the creaton of
your dea future. You take compete contro of your destny. As Drucker wrote,
"The very
best way to predct the future s to create t." And the startng pont s vson.
'esign Your Ideal /uture:
1. What s your vson for your company? Pro|ect forward and magne that
your
busness was dea n every way. What woud t ook ke?
2. What s your vson for yoursef? If your fe and career were dea n every
way,
what woud t ook ke?
3. Ideaze n each area of your busness. If your products, servces, sae and
protabty were perfect, what woud they ook ke?
4. Ideaze wth regard to your peope. If your stah were dea n terms of
sks,
abtes, personates and resuts, how woud they be dherent from today?
5. Imagne that a ma|or magazne was gong to wrte a story about your
company.
What woud you want them to say?
6. Pro|ect forward ve years and then ook back to today from that vantage
pont.
What woud you have to change today to create your dea future?
7. In what one area woud t be most hepfu to saes and protabty f your
company were wdey known as "the best?" What steps coud you take
mmedatey to
begn earnng that reputaton?
Create A 3ission Statement:
1. Determne your persona reasons for dong what you do. What gves you a
sense
of meaning and purpose n fe?
2. Decde upon the 3-5 key vaues upon whch your company s based.
Invove other
peope n the dscusson.
3. Dene the actons and behavors that peope w engage n, both nsde
and
outsde the company, that are consstent wth your vaues.
4. Desgn a msson statement, an dea descrpton of what your company
wants to
accompsh for ts customers sometme n the future.
7$ Wrte out a st of your vaues, and what they mean, pus your msson
statement,
and share them wth your stah and customers.
:$ Create a persona msson statement for your career. What do you want to
accompsh, and how do you want to be known?
;$ Create a msson statement for yoursef and your famy. What s t that you
want
to accompsh or acheve wth your famy n the years ahead?
Chater Seven 0 <einvent Your Organi%ation
'very man of genius sees the world at a di(erent angle than his fellows!
(Haveock Es)
|ack Wech of Genera Eectrc once sad, "If the rate of change outside your
organzaton s greater than the rate of change inside your organzaton, then
the end s n
sght."
In tmes of turbuence, you shoud be prepared to renvent your busness as
often
as necessary as your externa word changes.
As an exercse, magne that you were startng your busness over agan
today.
What woud you get nto, or not get nto?
&undle of <esources
For greater perspectve, stand back and vew your busness as a bundle of
resources and
capabtes, ke a re hose of taent and abty that can be amed n many
drectons to
acheve dherent resuts. Instead of mtng yoursef to seeng your busness
as an
organzaton that s desgned to perform specc functons, producng and
seng certan
products and servces, thnk of t as beng capabe of dong a varety of thngs
competey
dherent from what you are dong today.
The .reat /ire
As you thnk about renventng your busness, magne that your company
burned
to the ground whe you were away. When you arrved at the scene, you found
that a
your stah were safe and standng around n the parkng ot.
As t happens, there s unoccuped omce space avaabe across the street.
You
can mmedatey move nto the new space and start your busness anew.
Here s the
queston: Whch of your products and servces woud you begn producng
and
dstrbutng rght away, and whch ones woud you not start up agan,
knowng what you
now know?
12amine 1very <elationshi
If you were startng your busness over agan today, competey free from any
encumbrances of the past, whch customers woud you ca rst, and whch
ones not at
a? Whch vendors, suppers, bankers or other peope woud you mmedatey
get n
touch wth, and who woud you ca ater, f at a? What woud you do rst?
What woud
you do second? What woud you not start up agan, knowng what you now
know?
<einvent Your Sta= <elationshis
Now, ets go back to the parkng ot. Let us assume that a of your peope
are
safe and standng around watng for nstructons. Whch of them woud you
take across
the street wth you to the new busness, and whch ones woud you eave n
the parkng
ot? Who woud be the rst and most mportant person whose servces you
woud want to
secure? Who woud be the second most mportant? Who woud be thrd? And
so on.
12amine Your Organi%ation
If you coud renvent your busness, what woud you do more of? What woud
you
do less of? What woud you start dong that you are not dong today? What
woud you
stop dong atogether?
In renventng your organzaton, ask yoursef, "What are my most mportant
taents, sks, abtes and core competences, and what else coud I do wth
them? Who
are my best peope and what ese coud they do? Keep thnkng about how
you woud
renvent your busness f you were startng over. Ths w keep you on the
cuttng edge of
creatvty and nnovaton.
Thin" In Terms of 12cellence
The key questons n renventon are, "What coud you be absoutey exceent
at
dong n todays market?" Where coud you be the best? Where coud you
acheve wordcass
quaty? Where coud you be better than 90% of your compettors? "
The market ony pays extraordnary rewards for extraordnary products and
servces. Where and how coud you do what you do n an extraordnary
fashon?
<einvent Your Career
Fnay, thnk about renventng yoursef and your career on a reguar bass, as
we. If you were startng over agan today, what woud you do more of, less
of, start or
stop? What woud you get nto or get out of?
If you were startng your career over agan, what addtona knowedge and
sks
woud you want to have? What can you do, startng today, to acqure those
key sks?
Imagne that you coud do a varety of |obs. What woud you really ke to do
wth your
fe?
Snce you were gong to have to renvent yoursef reguary throughout your
career, t s
very mportant that you thnk about how you woud do t we n advance of
when t
becomes necessary.
<einvent Your Organi%ation:
1. If you were startng your busness over agan today, what woud you do
dherenty?
2. If you were startng your career over agan today, what woud you get
nto, or out of?
3. If your busness burned to the ground and you coud ony oher one of
your products or servces, whch one woud t be?
4. Who are your most mportant customers, the ones who you woud
mmedatey move to take care of, f you were startng over?
5. Who are your most mportant peope, both nsde and outsde of your
busness?
6. What are your most mportant contacts and busness reatonshps, the
ones you woud want most to preserve f you were startng over?
7. If money were no ob|ect, what steps woud you take today to renvent
your busness?
Chater 1ight 0 Select the <ight Peole
&ere lies a man who know how to enlist into his service people better than
himself!
(Andrew Carnege -eptaph)
The peope n your company are the most mportant parts of your busness.
A work, a
performance, a resuts come from them, both as ndvduas and when they
work
together n teams of some knd. The managers output s the output of hs or
her team,
and of the ndvdua team members.
In busness, peope come rst. |obs, actvtes and resuts are ony acheved
after
the rght peope are n pace. |m Cons says n hs book, )ood to )reat, that
the key to
budng a great busness s, "rst, get the rght peope on the bus, and
second, get the
wrong peope oh the bus." Any other approach s bound to fa.
T!o Key >ualities to +oo" /or
The best peope have two quates. Frst, they can be counted on to get the
|ob
done, to get t done we and to get t done n a tmey fashon. Second, they
get aong
we wth others. They are good team payers.
You shoud appy *ero"based thinking to each person who reports to you on a
reguar bass. Contnuay ask, "Knowng what I now know, woud I hre, assgn
or
promote ths person agan, f I had to do t over?"
If the answer s "No," then your next queston s, "How do I remove or repace
ths
person, and how fast can I do t?"
What do you want and need those resuts to be?
Once you are cear about the resuts you desre, set specc measures of
performance on each |ob, and each task. How w you and the canddate
know whether
or not the |ob has been done propery? Remember, "What gets measured,
gets done."
And, "If you cant measure t, you cant manage t."
Select the <ight Peole:
1. Rank every one n your company on a scae from 1-10, wth 10 beng the
hghest, on ther competence at ther |ob.
2. Resove to bud a team of hghy motvated, competent and postve
empoyees to
hep you get the resuts you need.
3. Thnk through each new |ob or hre carefuy n advance. Wrte out the
descrpton
ceary.
4. Intervew at east 3 canddates for a new poston. Intervew the canddate
you
ke at east 3 tmes, n three paces, and have hm or her ntervewed by at
east 3
other peope.
5. Check references carefuy; seek the fata aw or weakness that woud
make the
canddate unsutabe.
6. Hre ony postve, kabe peope; they make the best team payers.
7. Resuts are everythng; contnuay emphasze and expan exacty what
resuts are
expected from each person.
Chater 9ine 0 3ar"et 3ore 1=ectively
+ecause its purpose is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two
, and only
these two" basic functions- marketing and innovation! .arketing and
innovation produce
results/ all the rest are costs! (Peter Drucker)
A busness strategy s utmatey marketng strategy. Whenever you are
worred about the
heath or future of your busness, get back to thnkng about marketng and
seng. Focus
snge-mndedy on ncreasng saes and revenues. Cuttng expenses and
controng costs
s an ongong necessty, but you cant cost-cut your way to busness success.
You have to
ncrease cash ow, and ths ony comes from seng more of your products or
servces.
9o matter ho! challenging or cometitive the economy aears# as
much as
?@A of your mar"et is still untaed$ There are amost aways hdden
opportuntes
around you. Your abty to uncover and take advantage of those opportuntes
s the true
test of competence as an executve or as a busness.
'ecide Who You Are and What You 'o
0peciali*ation requres that you focus on specc products or servces,
specc
markets or specc customer needs. You must ght the temptaton to try to
oher too many
products and servces to too many customers n too many areas. You must
specaze,
both n your own mnd, and n the mnd of your customer.
What s t exactly that your product or servce s desgned to acheve, avod or
preserve for your customer? What are the core competences or propretary
methods or
technooges that enabe you to specaze n ths area? What specc probem
or need can
you sove or satsfy for your customer? And of a the dherent resuts you can
get wth
your busness, where do you, shoud you, coud you specaze?
See Yourself As A &usiness
In your persona fe, you shoud ask the same questons of yoursef as we.
What
s your persona area of speciali*ation? In what way s your work superior to
your
compettors? What s the ideal poston or area of responsbty for you to
appy your
taents? Where shoud you be concentrating your energes to get the very
best resuts and
greatest rewards possbe?
Especay, you shoud contnuay ask yoursef, $hat is it that I do very, very
well?
What s your persona area of exceence? What coud t be? What shoud t
be?
+oo"ing Ahead
Lookng nto the future of your busness or ndustry, what new competences
do you need
to deveop to ead your ed n the months and years ahead? What addtona
knowedge
and sks do you need to acqure? What are those few tasks, whch, f you dd
them n an
exceent fashon, woud have the greatest postve mpact on your career? In
what areas
coud be pad the very most for the appcaton of your speca taents and
abtes? Ths
queston s |ust as reevant for you as t s for your company.
3ar"et 3ore 1=ectively:
1. Decde today to dominate your ed, to be the best at marketng and
nnovaton n your product or servce area. What s the rst step you shoud
take?
2. Determne your area of specazaton, by product or servce, market or
type of customer. What shoud t be? What coud t be?
3. How do you dherentate your product or servce from those of your
compettors? In what ways are you superor to anyone ese? What coud t be?
What
shoud t be?
4. What are you best market segments? Where are your hghest probabty
customers? Who can benet the most from usng what you se?
5. How can you organze your busness so that you concentrate your
marketng and seng ehorts on those customers who can buy and pay faster
than any
others?
6. What addtona products, servces, knowedge or capabtes w you
need to domnate your markets n the months and years ahead?
7. What shoud you mmedatey start dong more of, ess of, start or stop
to ad|ust to the current market?
Chater Ten 0 Analy%e Your Cometition
1oncentrate your strengths against your competitors relative weakness!
(Bruce
Henderson)
Kno! Your 1nemy
Here then s a queston for you: Who s your competton? Exacty? Your
choce of
compettor determnes amost everythng you do n your market, |ust as the
choce of an
adversary determnes everythng a genera does n the process of conductng
mtary
operatons.
'etermine Their &uying 3otives
Once you have determned why t s that peope buy from you, you must then
ask
and answer, "Why do peope buy from my compettors?" What vaue or
benets are your
potenta customers convnced that they receve when buyng from your
compettor rather
than from you?
What are your compettors key strengths? What are hs areas of
specazaton,
dherentaton, segmentaton and concentraton? What does your compettor
have that
you dont have? What does he oher that you dont oher? What s he dong
more of or
better than you? What s hs unque seng proposton?
O=set Their Advantages
As you study your compettors, ook for ways to ohset or neutraze the
advantages
ther customers perceve them to have. What are your compettors
weaknesses? How can
you expot these weaknesses? What do you do better than they do? In what
ways are
your products or servces superor to ther oherngs? In what areas do you
have a dstnct
advantage over your compettors? What can you do to ohset your
compettors strengths
and maxmze your advantages? How can you better poston yoursef aganst
your
compettors n a tough market?
The more tme you take to study and understand why and how your
compettors
are successfu n seng to your customers, the more key t s that you w
nd an
opportunty to take away ther market share. As Sun Tzu says n he 2rt of
$ar, "If you
know both yoursef and your enemy, you w preva n a hundred battes."
Analy%e Your Cometition:
1. Who s your competton for what you se, wth the exact customers you
are
tryng to attract?
2. What woud happen f you changed your oherngs n such a way that you
targeted
a dherent group of customers, one that woud be easer to se to?
3. Why do your potenta customers buy from your compettors? What
advantages do
they perceve?
4. What s your compettors unque seng proposton? What speca feature
or
benet does hs product or servce have that yours does not?
5. In what ways are you superor to your compettors? What can you oher
that they
cannot? How can you emphasze ths advantage n your saes and marketng
ehorts?
6. Where s your compettor vunerabe? How coud you expot ths to your
advantage?
7. How coud you ater your marketng strategy n such a way that you coud
acheve
domnance n a partcuar area, wth a specc customer or market segment?
Chater 1leven 0 'o It &etter# /aster# Cheaer
he man who comes up with a means for doing or producing almost
anything better,
faster or more economically has his future and his fortune at his %ngertips!
(|. Pau Getty)
The most mportant snge determnant of your success s your area of
competitive
advantage. It s more mportant than a other factors. It determnes the rse
or fa of your
busness, your eve of protabty, your poston n the marketpace and
everythng ese
you accompsh.
Your compettve advantage must be crysta cear to you and to everyone n
your
company, as we as to your prospectve customers, Lack of cear compettve
advantage
eads qucky to dmnshed saes, oss of market share, ower protabty,
prce cuttng,
and utmatey to busness faure.
Your 5igh Concet
Your busness was started because you or your company had an dea for a
product or servce that was dherent or better from other products and
servces. It ohered
to satsfy the same need or sove the same probem better, faster or cheaper
than anyone
or anythng ese then avaabe.
Your abty to dherentate your product n the mnds and hearts of your
customers s the key to wnnng them n the rst pace, and then keepng
them after the
nta sae. To buy from you, a customer must be convnced that, a thngs
consdered,
your oherng s dherent and better than anythng ese that s currenty
avaabe at the
same prce. |ack Wech was famous for sayng, "If you dont have compettve
advantage,
dont compete!"
Three Areas of 'i=erentiation
To succeed n a tough market, what you se must be superor to your
compettors oherngs n at east three ways. It must be better# faster#
cheaer# and easier
to use in some !ay that ma"es it more attractive than rival roducts
or services$ It must be
sod more professonay or servced wth greater senstvty, speed or
emcency. It must
be better n at east three areas.
One of your key |obs n strategc thnkng s to dentfy the three areas where
you are
better and then to emphasze those areas of superorty n a your marketng
and saes
How coud you acheve operatona exceence n your busness, or some part
of your
busness, n such a way that you coud be the ow-cost provder n your
market? How
coud you dramatcay reduce your costs of dong busness and use ths ow
cost
advantage to ncrease your saes and protabty?
+ead the /ield
The second area where you coud acheve compettve advantage s n the
use of
innovative technology eadng to the producton of hgh quaty products
and servces.
Companes ke Mercedes and Roex fa nto ths category, as does Sony and
Lexus.
Customers are wng to pay a premum for a brand name that represents
hgh quaty and
cuttng-edge technoogy. Where are there opportuntes for you to dstngush
your
products or servces by usng your magnaton to become the quaty eader
n your ed?
Close to the Customer
The thrd area where you coud deveop compettve advantage s n beng
"cose to the
customer." Ths requres that you nvest the tme to deveop hgh quaty
reatonshps
based on "customer ntmacy." Customers w pay more and reman oya
onger to
companes that seem to know and understand them better than others.
Provders of
specazed servces, such as consutng rms, aw rms and accountng rms
fa nto ths
category.
In what ways coud you deveop hgher eves of trust and credbty wth your
customers? What coud you do to demonstrate to your customers that you
reay care
about them and ther nterests? Ths strategy can oher a breakthrough
opportunty,
especay n the sae of expensve products and servces where resaes and
referras are
possbe.
Pic" Your Targets
To ead your ed and acheve hgher eves of protabty, you have to be
outstandng n one of these three areas and very good n the other two. One
of the most
mportant decsons you make s to choose your area of compettve
advantage, and then
to dedcate your company to achevng t.
Strive /or Sueriority
Your area of exceence s the key to your success n a compettve
marketpace.
Ths s where your product or servce stands out n comparson to your
compettors. It s a
vaue or benet that you oher that no one ese ohers. Wth regard to your
products or
servces, what s t? What coud t be? What shoud t be?
Your area of superorty s dened as an area of performance where your
product
or servce s superor to that of your compettors. Ths performance dherence
s
sgncant enough that your customer w buy t, and even pay you more for
t. In what
way does your product perform better, n terms of gettng resuts that your
customer cares
about, than your compettors? How coud you mprove the performance of
your products
or servces n some meanngfu way?
Fnay, your uni3ue selling proposition s somethng that you and ony you
oher
to your customers, and s somethng that they reay care about. No one ese
does as we
as you do n ths area. No one ese acheves the same benet or resut. What
s your
unque seng proposton? What coud t be?
+oo" Into Yourself
On a persona eve, you must contnuay ask these questons of yoursef.
What s your
persona area of exceence? Where are you superor to your compettors?
What s your
unque seng proposton? In what ways do you do your |ob better or faster
than others?
What s t that you and only you do n an outstandng fashon for your
company? What
coud t be? What shoud t be?
Perhaps the most mportant area of superorty you can deveop s your abty
to
do your |ob qucky and we, n an exceent fashon, consstenty and
dependaby every
tme. Ths s the key to success as an ndvdua n a compettve marketpace.
'o It &etter# /aster# Cheaer:
1. In what ways are your most mportant products or servces superor to
those of
your compettors?
2. What s your recognzed "area of exceence?" If you were to conduct a
survey,
what woud peope say that your company does especay we?
3. In what ways are your products or servces faster to acqure, use and en|oy
than
your compettors?
4. What s your unque seng proposton? What s t that your products or
servces
oher that no other company can match?
5. In what ways are your products or servces cheaper to buy and use, or
acheve
superor nanca resuts for your customers for the same cost?
6. If you were known for beng outstandng n any one area of your product or
servce oherngs, what one dstncton woud have the greatest postve
mpact on your
sae and protabty?
7. Lst the three areas where your products are, or can be, superor to any of
your
compettors. What s your pan to acheve ths area of market superorty?
What shoud
you do rst?
What 'o You SellB
The rst part of the marketng mx s your 4roduct or servce. Aways dene
your
product or servce n terms of what t "does" for your customers, versus what
t "s." Heres
the queston, "Is your product or servce, as you are oherng t today, deay
suted for
your current market and customers?"
5o! 3uch 'o You ChargeB
The second part of the marketng mx s your 4rice. Is your prce the rght
prce for what
you are seng? Shoud you change your prce n some way? Shoud you
ncrease t,
decrease t, combne your prce wth other tems, or add tems to your prce?
Shoud you
change your terms or oher somethng dherent for the same prce?
'ouble Your PriceB
Is there any pace n your busness that
you coud ncrease your prces and st hod onto your market?
5o! 'o You Sell ItB
How are you currenty promotng and seng your product or servce? Whats
workng?
Whats not workng? Shoud you change your methods of advertsng,
marketng, seng
or acqurng customers n any way?
Sell 3ore Stu=
Especay, shoud you upgrade and mprove your drect seng methods,
peope,
presentaton, and capabtes?
Is Your Phone <ingingB
Ever after, when I thnk about the ehectveness of advertsng, I aways ask,
"Is
your phone rngng?"
Where 'o You SellB
The fourth eement of the marketng mx s the 4lace. Ths s the specc
ocaton where
the sae of your product takes pace. Where exacty do you se your product
today? Do
you se n homes, omces or n your own reta estabshment? Do you se n a
partcuar
cty, state or natonwde? Do you se n stores or by drect seng or by drect
ma? Most
mportanty, shoud you change the pace at whch you oher your products?
A change n the ocaton where you oher your product or
servce coud change the drecton of your busness. What coud t be?
12amine Your Assumtions
Whenever you have dmcutes seng a sumcent quantty of your product or
servce, you shoud examne a of your assumptons n the areas of product,
prce,
promoton and pace. You shoud be wng to consder the possbty that
your method
s competey wrong n one or more of these areas.
It often happens that a snge change n one of the "Ps" n the marketng mx
can
change the entre nature of your busness, boost your resuts, ncrease your
protabty
and move you toward market eadershp. Keep an open mnd.
The Ans!ers Are Changing
What s the correct marketng mx for you to se the very most at the hghest
cost, and
earn the greatest prot? What assumptons are you gong on that
may no onger be true?
Change Your 3ar"eting 3i2:
C$ Be prepared to chaenge every aspect of your marketng, especay f t s
not
workng as we as before. What areas cause you the greatest frustraton and
dssatsfacton?
D$ What exacty do you se, dened as what t "does" for your customers,
versus
what t "s?"
6$ What prces do you charge? How coud you change the way you charge to
make
buyng from you more attractve?
E$ How do you promote your product? Coud there be better ways of
advertsng
your products or servces that woud gve you better resuts?
7$ How do you se your product or servce? Is every person who deas wth
your
customers fuy traned n every key resut area of seng?
:$ Where do you se your product or servce? Shoud you be exporng other
ocatons or methods of sae?
;$ Shoud you change more than one of the eements of the marketng mx at
the
same tme? Chaengng market condtons often ca for bod departures from
the methods
of the past, especay f they are no onger workng.
What Words 'o You O!nB
Deberatey or accdentay, each product or servce deveops a reputaton
that
postons t aganst ts compettors. What s yours?
Create Your O!n Cheat Sheet
Here s the queston. What words do you own? What words should you own n
the
hearts and mnds of your prospectve customers? What words could you own
f you were
to reorganze and redrect your marketng ehorts?
As an exercse, magne one of your prospects meetng wth one of your
customers. Imagne that your customer caed you and asked you what you
woud ke
hm to say to your prospect to convnce your prospect to buy from you?
If you coud put together a "cheat sheet" wth the exact words or phrases
that you
woud ke your customer to eave n the mnd of your prospect, what words
woud you
choose? Woud you choose words ke excellent 3uality, high integrity, friendly
service,
nice people, 3uick responses to problems, easy to work with, great prices?
How do you want
to be descrbed by your customers and potenta customers? Of a the words
and phrases
that customers coud use to descrbe your products and servces, and your
company,
whch woud be the most helpful for you and your busness?
What Is Your &randB
How are you descrbed and thought about by others when you are not there?
What s
your personal brand? What s your reputaton? How do other peope thnk and
tak about
you, both as a person and as a contrbutor to the organzaton?
Position Your Comany /or Success
1. What s your companys reputaton n your market? How do customers and
compettors thnk and tak about you?
2. What words do peope use when descrbng your products or servces to
others?
3. If you coud "own" certan words that appy to your company, your
products or
servces, whch words woud you choose?
4. What words, f they were automatcay assocated wth your company,
woud
have the greatest postve ehect on your saes and protabty?
5. What changes woud you have to make to assure that every customer
contact
renforced the message that you wanted to send to your customers about
dong busness
wth you?
6. What are the most mportant promses that you make to your prospects to
get
them to buy from you for the rst tme? Do you keep these promses after the
sae?
7. What are the most postve thngs that your customers say about deang
wth your
company? How coud create a system to assure that more customers say
these thngs?
Examne your compete range of products and servces, especay the newer
ones,
and ask, "Whch of these has the potenta to be a bg seer?" What woud
you have to do
or nvest n o hep make t a ma|or source of saes and revenues?
Keep askng yoursef, "If I had not aready commtted tme and money to ths
product, knowng what I now know, woud I start nvestng n t agan today?"
Appy the SBU concept to yoursef and your career. You have severa areas of
taent and abty, core competences, experence, knowedge and educaton.
What are
your cash cows, the sks that are centra to your vaue to the organzaton?
What are your "stars," the emergng areas of actvty, or new sks and
knowedge
that can make you extremey vauabe n the future?
What are your potenta areas of great success? What are the pro|ects,
responsbtes and areas of opportunty, whch, f you expot them fuy, can
enabe you
to move ahead more rapdy n your career?
Fnay, what are the "dog" areas of your work fe? These are the tasks or
sks
that you may have mastered n the past, but whch dstract you from your
future. These
are the |obs and actvtes that take up a ot of tme, but whch are nowhere
near as
vauabe as other thngs you coud be dong. What are they?
'evelo Strategic &usiness ,nits
1. Begn today to vew each product or servce as a separate busness,
responsbe
for generatng a certan amount of prot every month.
2. Group your dherent products or servces by smar characterstcs, smar
customers, or smar markets.
3. What are the cash cows of your busness? What are the core products or
servces
that are essenta to your overa protabty?
4. What can you do today to safeguard and nurture your cash cows to assure
that
they contnue contrbutng saes and cash ow far nto the future?
5. What are the "stars" of your busness? What are the products that are
seng we,
ncreasng n market share, and generatng hgh prots?
6. What coud you do to ncrease the saes and protabty of your stars?
7. What are the "queston marks" of your busness? Whch of your current
products
or servces shoud you dscontnue, knowng what you now know?
What Is To &e SoldB
The rst queston s, )What is to be soldB* To answer ths correcty, you
have to dene
your product or servce n terms of what t does, and how t benets your
customer. How
does t mprove hs or her fe or work? Of a the benets that a customer
en|oys from
purchasng your product or servce, what s the prmary benet, the one thng
that you
oher that makes you superor to any other compettor n the marketpace? Do
you know
the answer to ths?
Who Is .oing To Sell ItB
The second queston s )&y !homB* Who s actuay gong to se the
product or servce
and get the check from the customer? How are you gong to recrut, tran,
manage, ed
and support the saes person? How s ths saesperson gong to uncover the
necessary
eads and get face to face wth the prospectve customer?
Who Is Your CustomerB
The next part of the queston s "To !homB*
5o! 3uch Are You .oing To ChargeB
Is there any prce you woud rase, ower or modfy n some
way?
Collecting Payment
The next queston s How is it going to be paid for? Do you requre
payment
n fu, n advance? Do you requre a depost when the sae s made and wth
the baance
to be pad at a ater tme on certan terms? Do you oher credt or nancng?
Especay,
what do your compettors do?
Often a change n the way you charge, or n your prcng structure, can
dramatcay ncrease your saes. What coud you do dherenty n todays
market that
woud make t easer or more attractve to buy your product or servce?
'elivering The .oods
The na part of the queston s How is going to be delivered
satisfactorily?
What s the exact process of gettng the product or servce to your customer
n such a
way, and at such a eve of quaty, that the customer both buys from you
agan and
recommends you to others?
Sell 3ore 1=ectively:
1. What s the exact saes process necessary to se your product or servce,
from the
rst customer contact through to the cose of the sae? Do you know? How
coud t be
mproved?
2. What must your prospectve customer be convnced of before he chooses
your
product over that of your compettor?
3. If money were no ob|ect, what speca resuts or benets do you oher n
your
saes ehorts that make your product more desrabe than any other avaabe?
4. What s your process for recrutng saespeope? What meda do you use?
What
eves of educaton and experence do you requre?
5. What knd of a compensaton system do you have for saespeope? What s
t
based on? How coud t be mproved so that t motvates better saes
performance?
6. How much of your busness comes from referras from happy customers?
How
coud you ncrease the number of referras you get as a percentage of your
busness?
7. Why arent your saes twce as hgh aready? What saes ehorts coud you
make to
tap nto that 80% of the market that has never heard of you?
/ollo! the /ormula
"Why am I not at that goa aready?" What s hodng you
back? What s the constrant, chokepont or botteneck that sets the speed on
how fast you
acheve your specc goas of saes, cash ow or protabty n your
busness?
Let us return to my earer queston, "Woud you ke to doube your saes and
doube your ncome?" If your answer s "yes", then why havent you done t
aready? Why
arent your saes twce as hgh? Why arent your prots twce as hgh? What s
hodng you
back? What s constranng you? What s the mtng factor?
Identify Your Personal Constraints
Thnk about your persona fe and goas as w. Ask yoursef, "What are my
most
mportant goas? Why am I not there aready? What s t within me that s
hodng me
back?"
Is t the ack of a partcuar quaty, attrbute or sk that sets the speed at
whch I
acheve my goas? Is t a partcuar atttude or beef that s hodng me back?
And most
mportant, what coud you do mmedatey to aevate your key constrants,
startng today?
1liminate the <oadbloc"s:
1. Set cear, measurabe goas for saes and protabty. Now ask, "What
determnes
the speed at whch I acheve these goas?"
2. Use sentence competon exercses. Say, "We coud doube our saes f t
|ust
wasnt for.." and n the bank.
3. Identfy the ma|or bock to your achevng your most mportant goa? How
coud
you remove t?
4. Look wthn your company for the mtng factors that hod you back. What
are
the chokeponts n your busness?
5. Assess each person n each key poston. Are they competent and capabe
of
dong what needs to be done for you to be successfu?
6. Once you have dented your key constrant to busness success, ask,
"$hat else
s hodng us back?" Keep askng, "What ese?" unt you get to the rea
probem.
7. In your own career and persona fe, what sets the speed at whch you
acheve
your goas? Look wthn yoursef for the answers.
3a"e /aster# &etter 'ecisions
Whenever they brng you a probem
or a queston, aways ask, "What do you thnk we shoud do?"
<eengineer Your Comany:
1. Practce smpcaton as a way of fe. In what areas of work has your fe
become
too compcated, and what can you do to get t back under contro?
2. Practce zero-based thnkng wth every step and every actvty. If you were
not
now dong t ths way, woud you start dong t ths way agan today?
3. Take a snge compex process or |ob and make a st of every step from
begnnng
to end. How coud you reduce the number of steps by 30% the rst tme
through?
4. What tasks or actvtes coud you deegate to someone who can do them
70% as
we as you?
5. What parts of your busness coud you outsource to companes or
ndvduas who
specaze n that area?
6. What parts of your work coud you emnate atogether wth tte or no
mpact on
your bottom ne?
7. What parts of your persona fe do you need to streamne and smpfy?
When are
you gong to do t?
Pum , Your Pro-ts:
1. Do a compete prot anayss on every product and servce you oher. Rank
them
from hghest to owest.
2. Identfy the 20% of your products that account for 80% of your saes.
Whch are
they?
3. Identfy the 20% of your products and servces that account for 80% of
your
prots. Are they the same as your answer to #2?
4. After deductng a drect and ndrect costs, whch are your most protabe
products or servces based on cost and return on nvestment?
5. How much s your tme worth on an houry bass? Bud ths cost nto
everythng
you do to get an accurate measure of costs and protabty.
6. Attrbute a percentage of a genera and admnstratve costs to each
product or
servce you se. Ths exercse often turns prots nto osses.
7. If your company was facng serous nanca shortages, whch products or
servces
woud you focus your energes on, and whch woud you dscontnue? Thnk
about dong
t now.
It Starts /rom The To
Encourage each person to nd ways to do ther |obs better, faster, and easer.
Aow them the freedom to experment wth mprovements, wth no fear of
crtcsm f
they dont work. Sometmes the greatest mprovements occur as the resut of
a seres of
sma experments that were not successfu.
You shoud stand back reguary and examne every product, servce and
process.
How coud you mprove t n some way? How coud you make t better, faster
or cheaper?
How coud you get the same or better resuts faster, or at a ower cost? Never
be satsed
or content wth exstng quaty eves. Aways ook for ways to mprove upon
them.
Branstorm wth your team reguary to generate deas to cut costs, mprove
quaty,
ncrease saes and boost prots. Encourage everyone to thnk, a day ong,
about how
they can do ther |obs better. Make ths commtment to contnuous
mprovement a part of
your corporate cuture.
Commit to 12cellence
If everyone n your marketpace referred to you and your oherngs as the
best in the business, what knd of a dherence woud that make n your saes
and
protabty?
Wth that as your goa, what woud you have to do, startng today, to assure
that
everyone refers to you as "the best" sometme n the future? What coud you
do, startng
today, to begn ths process? What s the rst step you shoud take?
>uality and Pro-tability
"Whch of these companes do you fee s the best n ths partcuar ndustry?"
Heres the queston: If such a survey were done among potenta customers
for what you
se, where do you fee your company woud rank n such a comparson?
Woud you be
ranked as "the best," or somewhere ower? What coud you do to move
higher n the
rankngs? What one step coud you take mmedatey?
5o! 'o Customers 'e-ne >ualityB
What 'o Customers WantB
Commit to Continuous Imrovement:
1. How do your customers dene quaty? What s most mportant to them n
choosng your product or servce?
2. How do you rank aganst your compettors on a scae from one to ten? How
coud
you mprove your rankng mmedatey?
3. Set up a reward system n your company for suggestons and deas to
mprove
quaty and acheve greater customer satsfacton?
4. Do you have quaty and performance standards for peope, products and
actvtes
n your company? Does everyone know what they are?
5. What company do you thnk s the best n your busness, the most
respected and
protabe? How coud you benchmark yoursef aganst them?
6. What one step coud you take mmedatey to mprove customer
satsfacton wth
your company?
7. What coud you do personay to upgrade and mprove the quaty of your
performance n the most mportant thngs you do n your |ob?
'e-ne Your Core &usiness
What s your core busness? If everythng ese was strpped away, what woud
be eft at
your core?
Identfy the 20% of opportuntes avaabe to you today that can be
responsbe for
80% of your saes and revenues n the years ahead. These w amost aways
be
extensons of your current busness, your core competences, and your areas
of
exceence. Your choce of the opportuntes avaabe to you argey
determnes the
future of your busness. What are they?
/ocus On 8alue
What are the 20% of your work actvtes that account for 80% of your
persona
vaue and your contrbuton to your company? If you |ust doubed the amount
of tme you
spend on the 20% of your hgh vaue tasks, and dscontnued the 80% of ow
vaue/no
vaue tasks that you do, you coud become most of the most productve
peope n your
company. These are your core tasks.
What are the 20% of probems, aggravatons, and rrtatons that account for
80% of
your headaches n your work? Who are the most dmcut peope, customers
or stuatons
that you have to dea wth each day? What can you do today to mnmze or
emnate
them?
Based on ths 80/20 anayss, what steps can you take mmedatey to
mprove,
ncrease, and strengthen your core products, servces, customers and
actvtes? What
shoud you do rst?
Where 'o You 12celB
In what areas of your products and servces are you, or coud you be better
than
95% of your competton?
Advance Planning
Ths 1itadel s your core busness. What s yours? Whatever t s, practce
"Scenaro
Pannng" on a reguar bass. Ask yoursef, "What s the worst thng that coud
possby
happen n my market today?"
Whatever your answer s to that queston, begn makng provsons today to
assure
that you w be abe to survve, shoud t occur.
Your Personal Citadel Strategy
As an ndvdua, you must be cear about your persona core competences,
as
we. How coud you mprove n each one of them? What core competences
w you
need to ead your ed n the years ahead? What s your pan to acqure the
core
competences of tomorrow?
Concentrate On the Core:
1. What s your core busness? What products and servces are most
responsbe for
your success today?
2. What are your core competences? What s t that your company does
extremey
we?
3. What are the worst possbe thngs that coud happen to your busness n
the next
year? What are your pans to dea wth them, shoud they occur?
4. What are your non-core products, servces or actvtes? What woud
happen f you
dscontnued them entrey?
5. Who are your core customers, and what are you dong to assure that they
never
eave you?
6. Who are your core peope, the ones who are most mportant for the
survva and
growth of your busness? What s your strategy to keep them?
7. What are your core functons? What are the thngs you do that are centra
to your
|ob? What actvtes are perphera?
/our Key >uestions
When consderng buyng a product or servce, customers have four questons
that
must be answered before gong ahead:
1. What does t cost?
2. What do I get for the money?
3. How fast do I get the benets you promse?
4. How sure can I be that I w get those benets?
Whchever company or saesperson answers these questons most
convncngy
wns the sae.
'eliver On Your Promises
"What resuts or benets do my customers expect of my
product or servce?" and "How consstenty do my customers get those
resuts and benets
when they buy my products or servces?" Ths s the true denton of
"quaty."
Ouaty can be dened as, "the percentage of tmes that your product or
servce
does what you say t w do, and contnues to do t."
A quaty ratng of 100%, or perfect quaty, means that what you se always
devers on your promses. A quaty ratng of 90% means that your product
gets the
desred or promsed resuts nne out of ten tmes.
+ittle Things 3ean A +ot
Federa Express has determned that f ts quaty ratng was 99.90%, they
woud
make mstakes n the devery of 44,000 enveopes a day. At 99.90% quaty,
Federa
Express woud coapse under ts own weght of confuson. That s how
mportant quaty
s n a busness.
Your persona success s aso determned by how consstenty and dependaby
you
perform and dever on your responsbtes and promses. You shoud
contnuay ask
yoursef, "What resuts are expected of me?"
Your eve of ehectveness s aways dened by others, by what they need
from
you. Leaders are aways askng, "What does ths stuaton need of me?" Once
they are
cear, they concentrate ther energes n those areas.
Ask yoursef, "Of a the resuts I can accompsh, what are the most vauabe
and
mportant n terms of my rewards and my future?"
Imroving Your Ability to .et <esults
Here are seven of the best questons you can ask and answer to mprove your
abty to get resuts:
1. "Why am I on the payro?" What exacty have you been hred to
accompsh?
Make sure that what you are dong every day s the answer to ths queston.
2. "What are my hghest vaue tasks and actvtes?" Of a the thngs that you
coud be dong durng the day, what are the actvtes that you engage n that
contrbute
the greatest vaue to yoursef and your company?
3. "What are my key resut areas?" What are the core competences and key
tasks
that you must absoutey, postvey do n an exceent fashon to produce the
most
mportant and vaued resuts expected of you? Resove today to become a
"do-t-toyoursef-
pro|ect." For the rest of your career, dedcate yoursef to contnuay earnng
and
mprovng n those areas where top performance s most vta to your
success. Gettng
better at your key tasks s one of the best tme savng technques of a.
4. "What can I and ony I do that, f done we, w make a rea dherence?"
There s aways somethng that ony you can do that can make a sgncant
dherence to
your fe and your work. If you dont do t, t wont get done. No one ese w
do t for
you. But f you do t, and you do t we, t can make a sgncant dherence.
What s t?
5. "What one sk, f I deveoped and dd t n an excellent fashon, woud
have
the greatest postve mpact on my career?" There s aways one sk that f
you deveoped
t and dd t we, woud have a greater and more postve mpact on your
career than any
other snge sk. Your |ob s to dentfy that sk and then put your whoe
heart nto
becomng absoutey exceent n that area, whatever t s.
6. "What one resut, f I acheved t consstenty for my customers, woud
most
satsfy those customers and brng me the greatest number of addtona
customers?" What
must your customer be absoutey convnced that he or she w receve from
you n order
to buy your product or servce and to recommend t to hs or her frends? How
coud you
mprove your quaty and servce n that area?
7. The na queston for persona success, number seven, s ths: "What s the
most vauabe use of my tme rght now?" Use ths queston as your gudng
star
throughout the day. Keep askng, What is the most valuable use of my
time, right
now?
All 'ay +ong
If you coud ony perform one task a day ong, what one thng coud you do
that
woud contrbute more vaue to your fe and work than any other snge task
or actvty?
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Whatever your ans!er# ut mastery of that tas" at the to of your
list of riorities$
'edicate yourself to getting better and better doing the one thing
that can ma"e more of a
di=erence than anything else$ This is the "ey to getting suerb
results at every stage of
your life and career$
Once more# here then are the DC "ey ideas in the Turbostrategy
rocess:
1. Start Where You Are: Do a compete and honest anayss of your
busness as t s
today, ncudng the current status of your saes, revenues, protabty and
the market
stuaton around you.
D$ 'ra! A +ine ,nder the Past: Appy zero based thnkng to every part of
your
busness. If you were not dong t today, knowing what you now know, woud
you get
nto t agan today?
6$ Conduct A &asic &usiness Analysis: Examne your products, servces,
processes,
and actvtes as f you were ookng at them for the rst tme. Be prepared to
ask yoursef
the "bruta questons" about each one of them.
E$ 'ecide 12actly What You Want: Set cear, wrtten, measurabe goas
and
ob|ectves for yoursef n each part of your busness.
7$ 'esign Your Ideal /uture: Pro|ect forward 3-5 years and magne that
your
busness was dea n every respect. What woud t ook ke? What coud you
do, startng
today, to make that future vson nto a current reaty?
:$ Create A 3ission Statement: Decde exacty what t s you want to
accompsh
for others wth your busness. Make t measurabe. Make t exctng. Share t
wth
everyone.
;$ <einvent Your Organi%ation: Imagne startng your busness or career
over agan
today, wth your present knowedge and experence. What woud you do
dherenty?
?$ Select the <ight Peole: Fuy 95% of your success n busness w be
determned by the peope you choose to work wth and for. Take the tme to
make good
personne decsons.
I$ 3ar"et 3ore 1=ectively: Thnk through every part of your marketng
strategy by
appyng the four prncpes of specazaton, dherentaton, segmentaton
and
concentraton to every product and servce.
C@$ Analy%e Your Cometition: Decde exacty who you are competng
aganst, and
why t s that your prospectve customers prefer to buy from them. How coud
you ohset
ths perceved advantage?
CC$ 'o It &etter# Cheaer# /aster: Contnuay seek ways to serve and
satsfy your
customer n a superor fashon to any one ese n your market. Never stop
rasng the bar
on yoursef.
CD$ Change Your 3ar"eting 3i2: Imagne beng your own management
consutant
and askng yoursef hard questons about the approprateness of your
product, prce,
pace and promoton n todays market.
C6$ Position Your Comany /or Success: Determne how you want to be
thought
about and taked about by your customers and prospectve customers. What
are the very
best words they coud use to descrbe you?
CE$ 'evelo Strategic &usiness ,nits: Dvde your products and servces
nto one
of four categores: cash cows, stars, 3uestion marks and dogs. Make one
person
responsbe for saes and protabty for each product or group of products.
C7$ Sell 3ore 1=ectively: Focus snge-mndedy on upgradng the quaty
of your
saes ehort. Hre more seectvey, tran more thoroughy, and manage more
professonay. Saes are the febood of the busness.
C:$ 1liminate the &ottlenec"s: Identfy the factors that determne how
fast you
acheve your goas of saes and protabty. Concentrate on aevatng these
bottenecks
n every part of your busness.
C;$ <eengineer Your Comany: Contnuay seek ways to streamne and
smpfy
the process of producng and seng your products and servces. Learn to
deegate,
outsource, downsze and emnate the compexty of everythng you do.
C?$ Pum , Your Pro-ts: Evauate every product and servce to
determne exacty
how much net prot you are actuay earnng from each tem you se. Resove
to
dscontnue products and servces that are not as protabe as others, and
channe more
resources nto those products that are the manstays of your busness.
CI$ Commit To Continuous Imrovement: Insta the Kazen process of
"contnuous betterment" nto your company. Fnd out how your customer
denes
"quaty" and then contnuay strve to exceed expectatons.
D@$ Concentrate On The Core: Identfy the most mportant products and
servces
you oher, and then focus on gettng better and better seng more and more
of them.
Probaby 80% of the market potenta for your core products has not yet been
tapped.
21. /ocus On <esults: Concentrate your best energes and resources on
gettng the
most mportant resuts possbe for your company. Set prortes n every area
and then
work snge-mndedy to compete the few tasks that are more vauabe than
everythng
ese put together.
The most mportant part of the Turbostrategy s not what you earn, but the
actons you
take, and how qucky you take those actons. There s a drect reatonshp
between how
fast you move on a new dea and how key t s that you w ever move on a
new dea.
Resove today to become ntensey acton-orented for the rest of your career.
|ust do t!
The Turbostrategy Process